Killzone: Mercenary Vita Release Date & New Gameplay

January 31, 2013

The biggest Vita game announced for this year so far has finally got a release date and a new game-play video to go along with it; it looks stunning.

Ever since the announcement of Killzone Mercenary awhile back at Gamescom, excitement has built for what could be the first AAA first person shooter that defines the PlayStation Vita as “Console quality on the go”. It looks like it will be more than just that. The next vita exclusive installment of the Killzone franchise finally got a release date along with some new details and an absolutely beautiful gameplay trailer.

Sony just announced that Killzone: Mercenary will hit the PlayStation Vita September 17th. Over at the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla Games producer Poria Torkan revealed all the details:

“Killzone: Mercenary is a new first-person shooter in the Killzone series, developed specifically for the PlayStation Vita platform and powered by the stunning Killzone engine. Starting just after the ending of the original Killzone, and revisiting many of the events from the Killzone trilogy, the game puts players in the rugged combat boots of a mercenary named Arran Danner. Danner is a former UCA-soldier who has no qualms about taking on paid contracts from the ISA as well as the Helghast.”

He goes on to say that the game is comprised of nine single-player missions, with each mission lasting nearly an hour in length for a total around 9 hours. Completed missions unlock additional replay challenges, with a host of special objectives to accomplish. The game also has a full-fledged multiplayer mode with six maps for eight players and three different game types, including the popular Warzone mode.

Torkan said that the game’s campaign involves “when a seemingly routine mission to evacuate the Vektan Ambassador and his family in Pyrrhus goes awry, Danner discovers that the outcome of the war could very well depend on the fate of the Ambassador’s young son. With both sides going to increasingly desperate lengths to get hold of the boy, he begins to wonder whether the price of victory is really worth the paycheck.”

It’s nice to hear that Killzone will contain a full fledged campaign rather than short levels like we saw with Declassified. The description alone sounds incredible, but the trailer is something else. The graphics are top notch pushing the Vita’s capabilities and the gameplay looks solid; whats more exciting is that it’ll be improved from now until its September 17th release date. Could this be the first big Vita blockbuster FPS that lives up to the expectations? We’ll find out in September but for now check out the trailer below and let me know what you think in the comments below!